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isobars
Joined: 12 Dec 1999
Posts: 20935
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 Posted: Sat Jul 04, 2009 11:03 am Post subject: |
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Actually, those challenges were issued by you, not by me, and specified that I drive > 300 miles to and from your venue. Sorry, but I windsurf for my own amusement, not for others'.
Mike \m/ |
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billgfc
Joined: 20 Aug 2006
Posts: 226
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| Posted: Sat Jul 04, 2009 11:25 am Post subject: |
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WMP
that can work but that is not light wind.
I am curious what your feelings would be with your gear when winds are lighter, sayh 8 o 15 then comparing your gear with the new stuff.
Or come by the Event site later today with your gear. Then compare with an 09 Starboard Ventura 122 and 09 Maui Sail either 6.5 Pursuit or 7.5 Titan
If the wind comes up, I just may let you take my Sonic 100 out, IF you bring beer:) |
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bobgatpdx1
Joined: 13 Oct 2002
Posts: 385
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| Posted: Sat Jul 04, 2009 11:44 am Post subject: |
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Aside from all the board griping ...
There's some truth that kites can get planing in lower winds - if you don't count the formula rigs with 12m sails!
However, what many folks don't take into account is that non-planing windsurfing is still windsurfing and is actually fun!
Many days I'll go out in 5-10MPH winds at the Hook with a 5m sail and 120L board and work on tacks, helis, upwind 360s, etc. I've found that doing these lightwind drills improves my balance and gets the muscle memories formed that come in handy when its windy.
After an hour or two of "dinking" around like this (with no kites in the air at all), then the afternoon thermals will kick in and I'll head up to Wells Island for a nice 5.2m/5.7m planing session.
LIGHT WIND WINDSURFERS are BETTER WINDSURFERS!
bobg |
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WMP
Joined: 30 May 2000
Posts: 671
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| Posted: Sat Jul 04, 2009 11:49 am Post subject: |
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Dude..... I like my wind the same way I like my beer and women, I like 'em strong and smooth. Anything else is just not worth the investment.
Hey, 25 average is the least wind I'l go out in.... otherwise, I got plenty of better things to do. Life is too short, there's way too many other Gorge sports that are much more enjoyable in those conditions. |
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billgfc
Joined: 20 Aug 2006
Posts: 226
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| Posted: Sat Jul 04, 2009 1:12 pm Post subject: |
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Bro, thats cool guess you are strong and smooth just like all the women and beer, they must flock to you, lucky you... 
of course there are way more things to do, but this thread addresses the possible in lighter winds. Let s get the info out so more can enjoy.
Vacationers come from around the world to windsurf here. Let s keep info accurate and remember you can windsurf anytime there is a breeze.
The new gear really flies, just like the new women you must attract |
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isobars
Joined: 12 Dec 1999
Posts: 20935
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| Posted: Sat Jul 04, 2009 1:13 pm Post subject: |
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| billgfc wrote: | we get 15-20 mph on ws gear in 6 to 10 mph or so
and 15 to 34 mph with winds in teens, occasionally 3x speed of wind rec gear can get within 10 % or so of that ...
or practice freestyle |
I can stand in front of a fan and get the same sensation, free, with zero hassle, or simply RUN 15-20 mph if I'm willing to bother lacing up some sneakers. I find that riding a desert bike at 60 on Bonneville Salt Flats, driving 80 on a freeway, and WSing on flat water in modest winds all provide comparable sensations. I wouldn't walk across the street to do any of them unless my objective was travel to another place. MAYBE, if I were riding a beach chair wearing a wetsuit and harness on a hot day, I MIGHT be persuaded to step onto a pre-rigged 7.5 for a few runs in 18 mph breezes, but only if I were GUARANTEED I would plane the whole time. To me, sailing a sailboard on flat water and windsurfing are different sports.
I can list many more fun or productive things to do with a few hours than to load up some big gear, drive somewhere, unload the gear, rig it, find some guys willing to help me carry a three-foot fin to my board, put on a wetsuit, launch in a rocky wind shadow, stand on a board on flat water until I get bored, come ashore in a rocky wind shadow, de-rig, change clothes, load the gear into my vehicle, hope those guys are still around to help me put that fin back on its trailer, drive home, and unload the gear. WHEW! Just writing about it makes me want to go pound sand; at least that doesn’t require hours of loading or driving or rigging ... or two minutes of slogging.
OBVIOUSLY, I’ll never achieve the skill level Bill has achieved in multiple sports or those of any expert racerhed or freestyler … or wave sailor or skier or any other sport. FORTUNATELY, my fun doesn’t depend on expertise or trophies (I’ve thrown out at least 30 of them).
Don't misunderstand. My jaw drops at many of the WSing skills and tricks I see on You-Tube. Any skill or trick is impressive, all the more so if it's tough to learn. We hedonists understand that going truly fast requires great effort and concentration plus advanced technical skills and gets quite thrilling at the limits, flat-out scary at competitive levels. Certainly freestyle is gut-busting exercise and extremely demanding of skills and hard work. We freeriders admire the tenacity required to win a race or learn a trick or climb a mountain, but the path is just not entertaining to many of us and we'd rather go windsurfing than watch others windsurf. A thrill in the hand beats two skills in the bush.
(Let it go … let it go.) 
| bobgatpdx1 wrote: | LIGHT WIND WINDSURFERS are BETTER WINDSURFERS!
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Absolutely!
But the short-sighted hedonists among us are process- rather than goal-oriented. The very word, “practice”, repels many of us. We gotta have our fun now rather than at a finish line, or a mountain top, or ... shudder ... months down the road when a trick starts to click. Maybe it's just my dirt bike roots, but to me a loop is just a crash unless one lands planing, and a flakaSpockaWhacka is just a stunt like any magic trick ... and "magic" bores me as a spectator and a participant. Practice is for people with GOALS, man, not for us pure hedonists. Maybe when we’ve grown too old to take up kiting, then gotten too old to try golf, and had both knees fused, we’ll go “practice” something … like breathing and eating without drooling.
Naaaah! We’ll just buy a bib. It doesn’t require practice, and we can suck nourishment out of it while watching jet-kites on TV.
I am NOT trying to discourage anyone from light-air sailing or from any form of sailing. I meant that "Absolutely!" above, encourage anyone and everyone to pursue any and all aspects of it, and laud people's efforts to generate interest in it. But some of us are simply too thrill-oriented and/or lazy to put in the work -- aka "practice" -- required to get really good at it.
Mike \m/ |
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billgfc
Joined: 20 Aug 2006
Posts: 226
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| Posted: Sat Jul 04, 2009 2:02 pm Post subject: |
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my point is not about anyone's skill level or about being goal oriented or not.
It is about going on the water and encouraging all to sail from 2 knots to whatever extreme you like.
And of course light winds are windsurfing weather all experience ranges... kiting of course if you prefer
Enjoy that fan ,Mike:) |
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WMP
Joined: 30 May 2000
Posts: 671
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| Posted: Sat Jul 04, 2009 5:00 pm Post subject: |
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Your point is that you enjoy sailing with big gear.... also, that you're the root'n-toot'nist, the most awesomist formula rider that's ever graced this planet. Alright, fine.
It's just that both Mike and I agree that the same experience can be achieved with far less hassle and $$$ doing other stuff.... and you don't have to drive far to do other stuff.
EXAMPLE: just got back from paddling HV to Stevenson in a kayak..... nice flat water and no wind going to Stevie, then wind picked up and I was able to catch the breeze and ride some smooth swell back to HV. Felt GREAT to be on the water and going into scenic places you can't go on a sailboard. Good workout too!
Biggest problem with formula gear is fin is so dang long. If you ever sail HV to Stevenson, you'll find all sorts of logs and rocks just under the water surface, far from shore, that would just love to eat your long fin and then catapult you face first into your floating picnic table.
- WMP |
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billgfc
Joined: 20 Aug 2006
Posts: 226
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| Posted: Sat Jul 04, 2009 9:36 pm Post subject: |
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NO NO No, I do not own formula gear right now, as I wrote its not a skill set thing. Has nothing to do with my sailing.. I sail everytime I can from light to nuclear , depending on gear. With right budget time, I would do all.
reread my last post. It s about expanding participation in the sport in all weather..
I have sailed that entire area on formula gear in the past , no issues once away from shore. Others using long fin have not had the issue either. By keeping ones eyes open and sharing data, it has not been an issue. My first downwinder in that area was from Stevenson to Cascade Locks alone in 25 mph winds alone in 1980. The long fin issues you point out are exaggerated. It no bigger deal than knowing where to take a hobie, a sailboat or motorboat. They are formula, Go, wider boards and they have revolutionized the sport making it more accessible and easier to learn.
I wrote this all to educate outsiders and occasional sailors that we have the gear to enjoy the sport ain wider ranges than ever. It is there if you want to do it. I am getting the word out.
Besides you are so buffed lean from all your stuff , you must be too busy with all the fit smooth gals you attract. So you must be having the most fun, all VERY GOOD:)
Peace and enjoy |
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isobars
Joined: 12 Dec 1999
Posts: 20935
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| Posted: Sun Jul 05, 2009 9:10 am Post subject: |
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| billgfc wrote: | reread my last post. It s about expanding participation in the sport in all weather.... They are formula, Go, wider boards and they have revolutionized the sport making it more accessible and easier to learn.
I wrote this all to educate outsiders and occasional sailors that we have the gear to enjoy the sport ain wider ranges than ever. It is there if you want to do it. I am getting the word out. |
That, by far, is the most important message of this thread and the basis for Bill's frequent encouragement to get on the water every chance we get. Not even myopic hedonists like Pete and I can fault that. This sport could easily collapse without enthusiastic advocates like Bill, who puts his time and effort where his mouth is, in this and other sports, in and far beyond his own family.
Heck, if he keeps it up he might persuade me to bolt my 40 cm carbon race fin into my big Synchro, plug my mongo sail (a whopping 6.2!) into it, and see whether I can get something that big turned around between the shores of WA and OR. (Actually, I did that last year, and was very pleasantly surprised how nicely it sailed and jibed, even quite tightly.)
Mike \m/ |
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